This one simple word can end toxic stress

Once upon a time in a land far far away from iPhones, cars, farms and electricity our ancestors in order to survive in a dangerous world our ancestors needed their fight or flight response to stress. It gave them the energy, strength, focus and response to survive external threats.

Fast forward to 2017 … If I told you a new pill had been developed that that can improve your mental and physical health, make you stronger and improve your productivity at work and help you be more creative…. I’m guessing you would want to try this pill? What if this pill could help you be more optimistic and improve your relationships? The one catch? In order for this new pill to work you would have to let go of some of your old, misguided beliefs… I’m guessing you would still want the pill?

Unfortunately, (as of yet) no pill exists that can do this for you. The only option I have for you is to GET BETTER AT STRESS.

Stress is evolutionary. It fires us up. Stress helps us get stuff done. Life without stress would be boring and dull. Stress is what propels people to take on new challenges, face fears and step into the unknown. Without stress, there would be no achievement. Stress Rocks! Yet it has such a bad wrap?

Stress itself isn’t a bad thing. How we think about stress and how long it hangs around are the problems. Most of us are told to avoid stress as it’s bad for your health. We are told too much stress leads to health problems like weight gain, depression, anxiety even fatal diseases such as heart attack, stroke and premature death! Sadly there is a large element of truth to many of these views on stress. These bad stress outcomes are only true if you see stress as a threat. When stress feels like a threat, bad things can happen.

But here’s what we can do. We can change how we view stress.

Stress as a challenge

When stress is a challenge, there are little or no health problems associated with it. In fact, research has shown that people who view stress as a challenge live longer, healthier more productive lives. They have better relationships, do better in school and have more rewarding careers.

When stress is a challenge, your body fires up it’s social reward systems and the troubles associated with stress become the foundations of pride and self-worth.

So now that we come to the fork in the stress road which street do you take?

Is stress a threat? Does your heart race, stomach knot, your legs are ready to run for the hills? Do you go out of your way to avoid stress at all costs?

Or, do you look for challenges? Do you find things that will test you, take you out of your comfort zone, fire you up to learn new skills and become the better version of yourself?

This one change in your mindset viewing stress as a challenge and NOT as a threat is all it takes for you to change the negative effects stress can have on you and get you on the road to becoming stress Teflon. The choice is in your hands.